Here for sharing far and wide is a collection of the most common myths and misconceptions surrounding flu vaccines, debunked point-by-point with lucid, thoroughly referenced explanations. Remember: if you're going to argue with an anti-vaxxer, it's important to know your stuff.

The result was an exhaustive, point-by-point rebuttal to 25 myths, complete with over 100 citations, more than half of which link to peer-reviewed studies in medical research journals. (The others, she writes, "are to explanations of concepts such as herd immunity and ethylmercury, to other blog posts or news stories or to CDC and FDA webpages.") She then collected all 25 myths into a nice, compact reference list full of links to each myth's debunking explanation. Here, republished by kind permission, is said list in all its glory:

Myth #1: The flu vaccine gives you the flu or makes you sick. (No, it doesn't.)

Myth #23: Making a new vaccine each year only makes influenza strains stronger. (No, it doesn't.)

Myth #24: The side effects of the flu shot are worse than the flu. (No, they aren't.)

This list, writes Haelle, is long overdue. We couldn't agree more. Read her post. Bookmark it. Send it to a friend. Send it to a new mom. Of all the listicles you encounter on Internet this week, let this be the one you remember best, for as this recent strip from Abstruse Goose points out, it is of paramount importance, when assuming the role of Debunker, to have more compelling points and evidence at one's disposal than "because science."